Magazine Articles of Note

Judith Hanson Lasater wrote an informative, reflective essay on pratyahra, which is the yoga practice of withdrawing the sense.  (Yoga nidra is a state of being, pratyahra is an action) Take the time to read her essay, Return To Stillness; In a world of information overload, the yoga practice of pratyahara offers us a haven of silence.    Click here. http://www.yogajournal.com/wisdom/459_1.cfm

Yoga International featured a woman who teaches yoga and who, like me, has fibromyalgia. Her experience closely mirrors my own.  Click here to read about how yoga helps alleviate the symptoms.   http://www.yimag.org/features.asp?articleid=3.  In three respects, my experience diverged from the woman featured:

1. On days when crutches or wheelchairs are necessary I don’t see how headstands are – but the monstrous disease does wax and wane. 
2. She doesn’t address how still, “restorative” poses are very difficult and challenging when in pain.  Sometimes the body is better off moving because pain in a warm body in not as gripping and breathtaking.  Other times, restorative postures are alternated with more active postures. Yoga teaches you to be aware of your body and responsive, whether you’re dealing with an illness or not.  
3. She also speaks of “flare-proofing” with certain precautions.  In my experience, there is no flare-proofing. The behavior she outlines is still important; you do your best to minimize damage from the random onsets.  But sometimes the bad times just hit and wreck havoc.  Her sense of control and “proofing” again flare-ups belies her acceptance of surrender.      

To read of my own experience with yoga and my disease, click here.

If you have any suggestions for future nilambu notes, please feel free to email me at cass@nilambu.com

Summer Sessions Announced

Come and try out some yoga this summer at nilambu where the classes are extremely personalized. Only 4 students are permitted to enroll, so the teaching responds closely to the participants. The two sessions are:

• 6-week session from the week of May 2nd to the week of June 6th (cost is $115)
• 7-week session from the week of June 13th to the week of July 25th (cost is $135)

Classes will be held on the following days and times:

• Monday 5:30 - 6:45 pm
• Tuesday 10 - 11:15 am
• Tuesday 5:30 - 6:45 pm
• Tuesday 7:00 - 8:15 pm
• Wednesday 5:30 - 6:45 pm
• Wednesday 7:00 - 8:15 pm

Classes will focus on one of the following: standing poses, balancing poses, backbending poses, twisting poses, seated poses, prone poses, supine poses and restorative. For sample classes click here.

Please note: because of the Memorial Day holiday on May 30th and the 4th of July holiday, no classes will be held on those Mondays. Therefore, registration for the Monday 5:30 class is $105 for the first session and $115 for the second, reduced to reflect fewer classes. Single classes are available for $20. Make-up classes are also allowed. Please just email first to ensure that there’s a mat for you.

New clients are entitled to a free 45 minute private orientation session with me. Ideally this private time should be scheduled before attending any class. But any one is welcomed to attend any time, and if there's room, we'll accommodate you. Please email me first to ensure a space is available at cass@nilambu.com

Private sessions are always available. Also, if you have a group of friends and would like to schedule a class, just let me know. With a minimum of three, I’d be happy to set up a session at a convenient time.

Yoga Nidra - A Restful State of Being

Yoga Nidra. What does it mean?

Well, the answer to that has varied over the centuries. It’s often translated as yoga sleep, but sleep is understood very differently in yoga.

Patanjali wrote of sleep in the 10th Sutra of Chapter One -

Sleep is the mental activity that has as its content the sense of nothingness. - trans. by Alistair Shearer

Sleep is the turning of thought abstracted from existence. - trans. by Barbara Stoler Miller

So in yoga, sleep is not the absence of consciousness. It’s just a different stage of consciousness. In the earlier centuries of yoga, yoga nidra even was considered the highest form of consciousness, the closest to God. In this altered conscious state, one experiences continuous awareness of the self and a merging or even engrossing with God’s consciousness.

But today, yoga nidra most often refers to a state of deep relaxation in which the senses are aware of external stimuli but do not in any way react, even in the mind.

How does one get to that state of relaxation? Here are some steps:

1. Put your body in a comfortable physical position. Typically, this pose is corpse pose or savasana – you lie on your back, palms up. You can support your neck and head and put a cushion behind the knees. Just be sure you’re comfortable.
2. Set an intention – this could be to let go of an irritation, to forgive someone who wronged you, to make this deep relaxation effective – whatever you’d like.
3. Close your eyes and focus on your breath. Slowly try to match the length of the inhalation to the exhalation. As you exhale, try to image the carbon dioxide, the waste, that your body naturally exhales.
4. Survey your body – think in your mind of each body part, right side and left side separately. You can be as specific as thinking of each toe. The more precise you are the better. As you think of each body part, concentrate on relaxing that part. Do all of this in quickly. Don’t linger in any place of the body.
5. When the survey is complete, think of the whole body, supported by the floor. (hopefully by now, you’ll have a slight sensation of floating)
6. Think of your intention.
7. You can repeat the body survey or simply focus on your breath. You can stay in this for 10 minutes or 60. You should feel calm, a calm abiding. You are aware of sounds, the floor touching you, smells. But you don’t react to them, either actually or even in your mind. You may even fall into a different state of consciousness (sleep).
8. Come out gently.

You can do yoga nidra on your own. Admittedly, it’s easier to have someone with a kind and gentle voice to guide you in, through your body survey and back out.

I’ve actually transferred some of Shiva Rae’s yoga nidras onto my Ipod and sometimes go into yoga nidra to help me transition into night or during the day when I need deep rest. (See review of her Yoga Nectar CD next month, but if you want to check out her web site, click here. www.shivarea.com).

I also really relish doing it. I come out feeling refreshed and renewed. Nectar, indeed.

For general background on Patanjali click here and the Yoga Sutras, click here.

How To Return to Stillness

Judith Hanson Lasater wrote an informative, reflective essay on pratyahra, which is the yoga practice of withdrawing the senses.

Some definitional clarification:
yoga nidra is a state of being
pratyahra is an action

Take the time to read her essay, Return To Stillness. In a world of information overload, the yoga practice of pratyahara offers us a haven of silence.

Click here.

Yoga and Chronic Illness

Yoga International featured a woman who teaches yoga and who, like me, has fibromyalgia. Her experience closely mirrors my own. Click here to read about how yoga helps alleviate the symptoms.

In three respects, my experience diverged from the woman featured:

1. On days when crutches or wheelchairs are necessary I don’t see how headstands are – but the monstrous disease does wax and wane.


2. She doesn’t address how still, “restorative” poses are very difficult and challenging when in pain. Sometimes the body is better off moving because pain in a warm body in not as gripping and breathtaking. Other times, restorative postures are alternated with more active postures. Yoga teaches you to be aware of your body and responsive, whether you’re dealing with an illness or not.


3. She also speaks of “flare-proofing” with certain precautions. In my experience, there is no flare-proofing. The behavior she outlines is still important; you do your best to minimize damage from the random onsets. But sometimes the bad times just hit and wreck havoc. Her sense of control and “proofing” again flare-ups belies her acceptance of surrender.

To read of my own experience with yoga and my disease, click here.